In Massachusetts one in six people who have mandated insurance still say they cannot afford care, and 30,000 people were evicted from the state program this month because of budget cuts. Expect the same debacle nationwide.

“For someone my age who is making $40,000 a year you are required to lay out $5,000 for an insurance premium for coverage that covers nothing until you have spent $2,000 out of pocket,” Himmelstein said. “You are $7,000 out of pocket before you have any coverage at all. For most people that means you are already bankrupt before you have insurance. If anything, that has made them worse off. Instead of having that $5,000 to cover some of their medical expenses they have laid it out in premiums.”

Comments

I had that Commonwealth Care plan, until I got a job with benefits. I paid $39 a month, and there was only one primary doctor in the Western half of the state that would take the plan and was seeing new patients. I don’t remember what the deductible was, but mandates alone don’t solve the problem if there is still such limited access that you can only affordably see one doctor. Back when I had lyme disease, I had a doctor that wouldn’t even authorize a blood test to see what was wrong. If I couldn’t get a second opinion, I might have gotten even sicker. So Commonwealth Care worries me.
This problem is not unlike how unemployment numbers are leaving out too many people. Sure, everybody in MA has insurance, but good luck if you need to claim anything or actually get care. The problem is that insurance only ensures that one has to pay a premium. I want to ensure access to health care and medicine. Buying a policy does not accomplish that.

You will never get the cost of health care down, or even stable, until the individual who is buying the health care is also the individual who is paying the bill. When the price paid is up to the individual, the cost of treatment will come down, just as the cost have come down for cosmetic surgury. I believe in this concept so much that when I was self-employed I purchased a high deductible Health Savings Account. I am currently an employee and I could choose a $500 or $1000 deductible, but I have chosen to stay with the HSA. Health care is not a right. By the same token, the government has no authority to make citizens buy health insurance. The government should provide an opportunity for the uninsurable to buy insurance. It is the uninsurable, not the uninsured who desire, and need help. I’ve been there!
One of the unforseen consequences that will result from government run, or what ever you wish to call it, …. healthcare, will be a new industry; off shore clinics. Here’s how it will look. Those who can afford it will take a cruise to get what ever treatment they desire, when they desire it. The haves will still have, there will just be many more of us who have not.

SINGLE PAYER–SINGLE PAYER is the way to go Then and only then will they/we be able to negotiate with the medical industry. They talk wbout Government Controlled Healthcare as being Socialism. Yes, well we already have, lets see. Socialized Secondary Eduacation, Socialized Veterans Healthcare, Socialized Medicare/Medicaid and Socialized Libertys..President Bush “W” and Chaney determined what they thought our liberties were. It sure is confusing times we live in.

Debbie,
I’m pretty sure that life, liberty and happiness are impossible for those that are sick. We are not talking about care that is like cosmetic surgery. If you don’t get cosmetic surgery, there is no long term consequence. If you don’t see a doctor and find out that you have high blood pressure, or high blood sugar. A lot of people will just skip preventive care because they cannot afford the out of pocket cost. Sure it appears to control costs. But in the end, the costs go up. Things that could have been treated inexpensively explode into expensive health issues when they cause problems bad enough that the person goes to the ER. A lot of people seem to be unaware that there are many people who are unisurable through no fault of their own. It is not just about “eat right and you won’t get sick”. Genetics comes into play as well. If you ever have a gap, you get to deal with “pre-existing conditions” issues. So, again we as a society pay when people end up needing emergency care, we pay in lost productivity, we pay when they end up on disability.
MB, AFAIK, there is no indication that we are following the MA plan, do you have indications otherwise? I would hope we are learning what to avoid.